Cup holders Lyon knocked out by minnows Epinal

06 January 2013 05:17

Holders Lyon, currently flying high in Ligue 1, were sensationally knocked out of the French Cup on Sunday in a penalty shoot-out with third division club Epinal.

The round-of-64 match had ended 3-3 after extra-time, and Epinal went on to spring the biggest upset of the weekend when they beat the seven-time French league champions 4-2 on penalties.

Epinal took a shock 2-0 lead in the first quarter of an hour through Tristan Boubaya capitalising on two Romain Chouleur corners. Bafetembi Gomis and Gueida Fofana drew the score level for Lyon within seven minutes.

And OL must have thought they had the game wrapped up when Argentinian striker Lisandro Lopez converted a 62nd penalty, but the eastern club hit back with a Valentin Focki goal with 13 minutes of regulation time to play.

Epinal goalkeeper and captain Olivier Robin made a handful of crucial saves as the two sides battled through a goalless extra 30 minutes.

The penalty shoot-out then went Epinal's way after misses by Fofana and Bakary Kone, belying the club's second-last position in the "National" division, 58 spots below Lyon.